Accidentally on Purpose
by Itsufer
Summary: Kagome would have never expected that accidentally bumping into the apparent new guy in town at the supermarket would lead to a strange and addictive sort of relationship, but somehow, that's exactly what happened. And, oddly, the only place they ever interact is at that silly little store.
1. Chapter 1

**I hadn't been going to post this fic here initially, but decided why not. **

This was actually started with the (tentative) intent to enter it into the long past Dokuga event: **kaoruhana's New Year's 2015-2016 Challenge**. I clearly did not manage the deadline, nor the next New Year's either. This past New Year's, kaoruhana's brought back the challenge for **New Year's 2018-2019** and a new set of words which I tried to incorporate as well. There are also prompts for now last year's **December Holiday Challenge **too. In the end I managed to do a good chunk of all three sets of prompts! Woo me!

Considering all that, while this story isn't _exactly_ Christmas/New Year's themed, it does lead up to New Year's. Also this story is written in short moments over a period of time; the moments have no set length.

There is a drawing that goes along with this piece too, which can be found on Dokuga, titled the same as the fic for easy finding. This fic can also be found on Dokuga and ao3; my accounts for both are listed on my profile at the bottom.

Soooo, yup! Enjoy! **^-^**

* * *

**[~] kaoruhana's New Year's 2015-2016 Challenge**

**Prompts: **Day 11– Gold

**[~] kaoruhana's New Year's 2018-2019 Challenge**

**Prompts:** Day 6 – Gold

**[~] December Holiday Challenge 2018**

**Prompts: **Day 16 – Cookies

**As you can see, 'Gold' is a doubled prompt, but while i mark it here, gold is used multiple times throughout the fic.

* * *

Kagome was just sort of…frozen.

Standing at the end of the aisle, waiting in line to checkout, and then there he was, probably the most attractive person she'd ever seen. He somehow didn't even seem real, and yet he was just…there. A basket on his arm, a can of peaches in his hand, like your everyday, run of the mill shopper would be doing. Completely and utterly normal.

The line shifted and she sort of awkwardly sidestepped forward along with it, her eyes still glued to him.

She was quite certain she'd never seen him before. The area wasn't too large, and though the place classified as a supermarket, it was actually a bit small in comparison to the ones in the city. Plus, Kagome frequented this place quite often. If he lived in the area, she would have seen him by now. So then, he must be new to town.

Again the line moved forward, and she shuffled with it.

Suddenly, he set down the item he'd been oddly staring at for several seconds and began to walk away. As he turned the corner, the flutter of his long white hair drifting out of sight, Kagome hadn't realized she'd been edging to the side in an attempt to follow him with her mesmerized gaze until she nearly knocked down a small display beside her.

She groaned faintly as she bit her lip, feeling stupid and clumsy while she righted herself and made sure the display wasn't in danger of falling over.

"Ma'am?"

Startled by the voice calling out to her, Kagome swiftly whirled around to face the cashier waiting to ring her up. She smiled sheepishly and stepped forward with her few items, really hoping she hadn't kept the woman waiting more than a second; Kagome had done enough to embarrass herself already.

"Sorry about that," Kagome tittered softly, placing down her things, "I guess my mind was somewhere else."

The cashier had a small grin on her thin face and bobbed her head in response. However, it was fairly clear she didn't appear to care one way or the other. In fact, Kagome wondered if the woman had even really heard what she'd said. Normally that would have put her off a bit, but considering the circumstance, Kagome was glad for the invisibility.

Today was just not her day.

**-/o&o/-**

Trudging through the automatic doors of the store, Kagome almost dragged her feet as she lethargically grabbed a basket and made a beeline for the candy section. She wanted _so_ much chocolate today, maybe she'd even grab a box or three of cookies. It wouldn't really make her body feel any better, but it would at least enhance her mood. Who cared if she was pigging out, anyway?

Lazily avoiding the occasional patron, Kagome grumbled inaudibly to herself.

Sango's workouts were much too hard. After three months of her biweekly – _plus_ weekends –, schedule of pain, Kagome would have thought she'd become at least marginally accustomed to the workload. But nope, she was never so lucky. The woman seemed to create a new torment each time, and had her going until she was practically passing out. Kagome couldn't even remember anymore why she'd agreed to let Sango test her new training methods out on her. What possible use did she have for martial arts? The basic exercise was difficult enough, but she was reaching the point of prostrating herself just for a let up on the intensity of the rest.

As Kagome came to a stop before the beautiful spread of chocolates, she resigned herself to the obviously shameful truth; she was simply too nice. Though, in reality, it was because Kagome loved her friend. However her screaming muscles were busy begging to differ.

She was in the process of grabbing a large bag of mixed flavors – milk, dark, and caramel filled chocolates – when a flash of white swept into her periphery. In an almost kneejerk response, she swung her head to the side just in time to catch _him,_ the new, unfairly gorgeous man, walking past the end of the aisle. Even though her feet urged her to move, and her eyes refused to shift away from the now empty area, Kagome couldn't take a single step until she had at least two bags—and something else she didn't even look at, but knew was chocolate—in her basket. The very instant Kagome felt their combined weight as they plopped unceremoniously within, she jolted forward.

Stopping at the end of the aisle, Kagome carefully peered around the corner; she probably looked like a complete moron, but she was too busy and too achy to care. Her focus was in blinders, and it took less than a second to spot him.

Now that she had more time, she allowed herself to better observe him. Of course she did realize how creepy she was being, but again, she let common sense slide and opted for staring at the stupidly pretty man from a distance like a shy twelve year old at recess.

He was tall, his physique wasn't quite lean but she wouldn't call him a bodybuilder by any means, and with his back half facing her she could see it wasn't exactly broad, though neither was it slender. Kagome suspected he had a rather nice body under those surprisingly simple yet expensive looking clothes.

Her eyes were drawn to his arms where his sleeves were both neatly rolled almost to his elbows, and the exposed forearms were taunting her like some pale, sinuous, hypnotic beacon. She could see the muscle there; nothing over-the-top, but definitely prevalent, and it was just… well..really attractive for some reason. It was sort of weirding her out that she found merely his forearms so appealing when there was clearly much more of him there to admire.

Kagome rolled her eyes with a faint scoff at her thought. Honestly, what was she? A horny schoolgirl? This was ridiculous. _She_ was being ridiculous.

However, just as she'd resigned herself to ending her foolish little venture, he moved. And, against all sane reason, she moved as well.

By the time it felt like she'd stalked him through half the store, Kagome simply had to force herself to a stop. It was clear. She'd gone mad. And Mr. Unfairly Gorgeous was definitely the culprit of her rapid downward spiral into insanity; seeing as Kagome was relatively sure she'd been mostly normal before she had ever laid eyes on him.

Spinning round on her heel and marching away from him and toward a register, Kagome hoped that utter nonsense was enough to keep her from groaning into a pillow all night for shamelessly stalking a stranger around the supermarket.

It wasn't.

**-/o&o/-**

"Dammit!" she grumbled under her breath, "why are all of these expired?"

In her frustrated efforts to shove the yogurt back and simply get away from the source of her grief, Kagome rather abruptly ran into someone who'd been walking behind her.

Utterly embarrassed, she hastily turned around while blurting out an apology. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I wasn—"

Kagome was quickly shut up, mortified upon seeing the person she'd run into, the man greeting her with a vaguely annoyed expression on his familiar pretty face.

While a part of her was focused on how much more attractive he was up close and face-to-face, the rest was feeling rather irked at the look he was giving her. It was as if she'd offended him somehow.

Without a word to her, he backed away just slightly, only enough to make a small space between them, and returned to his prior path before Kagome had completely _accidentally_ bumped him.

She watched his back while he walked away, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide as she gawked at him. When he turned the corner, her stupor rapidly sobered into a grimace. That was _so_ rude! And really wasn't fair at all. The whole stupid thing was a complete accident and Kagome had apologized immediately too! What was his problem?

Huffing irately, Kagome jerked her head away from the direction he'd left and angrily shoved some of the expired yogurt into her basket anyway.

He might be attractive, but he most certainly wasn't courteous. She couldn't _believe_ she'd let herself waste any amount of thought on him. Frivolous daydreams and utter, childish nonsense.

**-/o&o/-**

Walking into the store with a light bounce to her step, her fingers instinctively reaching for the handle to a basket, Kagome's pleasant soft humming came to an abrupt stop when her eyes happened to catch…_his_. That beautiful golden color which seemed to pierce through anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the gilded stare. Sure enough, standing not too far from her and the entrance, was the man who seemed to have begun plaguing her life.

Their shared gaze was unexpectedly intense, though it remained locked for hardly a second or two. In that time Kagome could swear that sharp gold glared at her just a little before turning away, his tall figure disappearing down an aisle.

That's it. _Now_ she was pissed.

That stupid accident had happened a little while ago and it was hardly anything to begin with! It was the sort of moment a person cast off with a wave of their hand, the kind some people didn't even bother to notice beyond a half mumbled apology. Yet there he was, being…just… _that_. It was as though the man was condemning her for simply touching his person at all.

Narrowing her eyes as her lips twisted into a frown, Kagome stormed right back out of the store. Her intentions were completely forgotten in her irritation and her mood thoroughly soured for the rest of the day.

**-/o&o/-**

Okay. She could do this.

Kagome had spent a stupidly large amount of time thinking over everything that had happened since her first literal run-in with the man, and at last she'd come to a decision. She was going to confront him and ask what his problem was.

Staring at his stupidly attractive back draped by his equally stupidly pretty silver-white hair, Kagome sucked in a deep, palliative breath and marched her way up to him, anxious but determined to get some answers. And she'd told herself quite firmly that she wasn't going to play around either, so common courtesy be damned.

Kagome came to a stop right beside him, purposely making sure she was noticed with her loud steps and over-the-top movements, and then just as purposely left hardly a foot of space between them.

"What is your problem?" she calmly demanded.

Rather than answer, he didn't even bother to acknowledge her presence, let alone her words. In fact, he seemed to be ignoring her entirely; Kagome might as well have been invisible. Which was evident as he hardly shifted at all when he started to walk right past her.

Aghast and frustrated by his holier-than-thou attitude, she swiftly reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him. Thankfully, it did.

In the moment, he truly seemed surprised, though whether it was because Kagome had actually dared to touch him or because he really _had_ believed her to be nonexistent and was shocked that the nothingness had grabbed him, she didn't know. Either way, the expression didn't linger long before another vaguely annoyed one overtook it, mirroring the one Kagome had first received from him.

Ignoring it, she demanded again, "what is your problem with me?" her tone more forceful this time.

Though Kagome had keenly wanted an answer, it was rather unexpected when he actually did.

"I have no problem."

Just like the rest of him, his voice was unfairly attractive; even when marred with frustration the even timbre was smooth and lovely. God, he was so… unfair!

Frowning both at her own thoughts and his response, she faintly scoffed. "That is obviously a lie. Otherwise, why else would you glare at me when all I did was bump into you, _once_, by _accident_, and I even apologized immediately afterward!"

"I did no such thing," he responded simply, his mien indifferent.

Further aggravated, Kagome blustered, "you most definitely did so!"

"I did not," he countered just as coolly as before, "and I would appreciate it if you released my arm."

Kagome jerked her head back in mild surprise at his request, then shifted her eyes to where she was very intently grasping his rather solid forearm. The very forearm she'd once gawked over.

Her cheeks grew warm as a blush darkened them in her embarrassment and Kagome hastily let go, moving to cross her arms tightly against her chest so she could hide her hands. But, although her flushed cheeks didn't lessen much of their pinkened hue, her frustration still remained.

She wanted to say something, _anything_, but despite her continued aggravation with the man, Kagome found herself a little tongue-tied. And, unfortunately, in the interim of her attempt to form a sentence he had silently turned from her and walked away. Now _that_ left her fuming a little, both at him for being so passive and totally lying, and at herself for letting her embarrassment get the better of her determination to get an answer.

With the moment gone, Kagome was forced to contemplate yet another encounter until the next time they met. And they were _going_ to meet. She'd make sure of it.

**-/o&o/-**

* * *

**Don't forget!**

I _ALWAYS_ have the statuses and information about any updates and/or progress of this fic, or any of my stories on my profile in the 'Status Update' section. **^-^**

**_~itsu_**


	2. Chapter 2

Be sure to check out the art that goes along with this; the fic cover image is a cropped version of the piece! It's located on Dokuga, titled the same as the fic for easy finding. If you view this fic on Dokuga or ao3, there are links to everything for this piece – the fic on archiveofourown or Dokuga, depending where you first look; the art in all three places it's posted; and the little moodboard in the two places it's posted.

Enjoy! **^-^**

* * *

**[~] kaoruhana's New Year's 2015-2016 Challenge**

**Prompts: **Day 14 - Chapstick

**[~] kaoruhana's New Year's 2018-2019 Challenge**

**Prompts:** Day 3 - Confetti

**[~] December Holiday Challenge 2018**

**Prompts: **Day 5 – Green ;Day 17 – Milk** ; **Day 21 – Fried Chicken

* * *

**-/o&o/-**

Kagome had spent a good, long while going over everything that had happened in her time since she'd last seen _him_. Her mood had settled back to a more natural level for her, and in it she came to the conclusion that if she apologized again – especially for _how_ she'd confronted him –, then perhaps he'd react better. He might tell her why he'd been annoyed, or, if anything, just ease the tension she'd brought on.

Almost immediately Kagome noticed when he saw her coming over to greet him and she could swear he rolled his eyes just a little in response to her intent. While that didn't exactly help her maintain her calm, she still bit her tongue and kept a small, cordial grin on her lips as she walked over to him. Thankfully, this time he didn't try to escape.

"Hey," Kagome greeted him softly, anxious fingers tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Listen," she exhaled, "I'm sorry about last time. You know, grabbing your arm and stuff."

She cast him a cursory glance, noting how he was still regarding something in his hand, but his attention looked unfocused, so at least he didn't seem to be ignoring her this time. She might as well continue then.

"I _had_ been annoyed at you and wanted an explanation, but I think I let my frustration with all that mix with my sour mood due to my less than stellar day get the better of me." Flushing a little, Kagome shifted her eyes away, "I uh, I hadn't meant to be quite so..forceful with my question."

After waiting apprehensively in a moment of silence that he didn't fill, she ventured a peek at him again and found that he was rather intently eyeing her, his face somewhat blank though his gaze looked thoughtful. Then he lightly shrugged, followed by a faint hum of acceptance.

All worry swiftly forgotten, Kagome felt her lips twist a little at how blandly he'd accepted her apology, one that was hard to muster the courage to deliver. And actually, at how blandly he seemed to be taking the entire situation when she honestly felt _he_ was the one responsible for starting the whole mini debacle.

But, releasing a quiet breath of relief, Kagome tried to remind herself she was going to let it go.

However, as they both remained standing there, less than a foot between them, she noticed how the tension she'd hoped would now disappear didn't seem to lessen at all. Instead, the air became a bit more of that 'no one's saying anything, what should we do' sort.

Running her fingers through her hair again as her nerves teased her gut, Kagome chuckled awkwardly, "well, I guess I'll let you get back to what you were doing then."

Another second slipped by before she turned and quickly began walking away, her eyes firmly glued to the ground as she took a deep breath.

Unfortunately, Kagome didn't notice the person in front of her until two brown loafers came into view and her head smacked into a wide, boxy chest. Now feeling more embarrassed than physically possible, Kagome didn't even bother to look at the poor man she'd just practically head-butted.

"Sorry – I'm sorry – sorry," she mumbled in quick succession as she twisted around the man.

In the process of her avoidance and trying to make a hasty escape to the next aisle, Kagome caught those golden eyes still lingering on her, and she was positive he had one of his annoyingly perfect snowy brows raised. He had surely watched her entire moment of mortification and was likely pondering on her proclivity to run into strangers.

Now free of both him and the stranger she'd accidentally accosted, Kagome was all but running through the store to get out as fast as possible. She wasn't sure she was even going to bother getting the few things she'd come for either. Leaving was all Kagome could think about.

Also, on how he must believe her to be the silliest, most clumsy girl he'd ever had the misfortune of being accidentally and then forcefully introduced to.

**-/o&o/-**

"Since Kouga's coming," she mumbled to herself, "and he's bringing Ginta and Hokaku…"

Kagome was busy staring at the ceiling as she walked and babbled quietly outloud, calculating how many pizzas and liters of soda she'd need to grab in order to accommodate the little get-together party thing she and her friends were having. Not to mention the virtually heart attack inducing litany of miscellaneous snacks that had been shoved into her hands earlier while the boys in question were messily scarfing down four buckets of fried chicken and playing intense rounds of Mario Kart. Unfortunately, it seemed whenever the 'wolf pack' joined, as they all 'affectionately' termed the small group, the amount of food needed was all but impossible to determine.

Rounding the corner and entering the aisle containing the first items on her list, Kagome returned her attention to her surroundings and found her gaze settling on a tall figure with silky white hair falling down his back.

She halted mid-step, her eyes growing wider and wider the longer she stared at him, hoping desperately that he couldn't see her from the corner of his eye. Very, very slowly, Kagome moved her foot backward, then again, and again, and then began twisting around as unhurried as possible despite her powerful wish to bolt.

Alas, just as her foot hit the scuffed tile, Kagome heard his velvety baritone call out to her. Though the level was as subdued and calm as if she were next to him and he was merely giving a random, uninteresting fact.

"Avoiding me will not erase history."

In that instant, her entire body seemed to sag, the tension she'd been locked into sucked right out of her. There he went again, being unfair… Unfairly right.

Groaning, Kagome turned back around, then heaved out a defeated sigh. "Yeah, a part of me knew that." With no longer careful steps, she made her way to stand beside him, adding with a wistful sadness to her tone, "but the other, more foolish part hoped I'd get lucky for once. Sadly, that's not how the universe works."

Kagome looked up at him with large, resigned eyes and a quirk to her mouth, making a pitiful little grin while he gazed back down, eyeing her for a moment before glancing away. Quiet and practically unreadable, as always it seemed.

Tipping her head away with a faint roll of her eyes, she drawled inquiringly, "sooo, up to anything interesting?"

His attention returned to her, an eyebrow raised and a questioning look in his eyes. "Does going to the store normally classify as interesting for you?"

Kagome puffed out her lips a little, pouting at his subtle sarcasm. "I was just going for casual conversation."

"That does not require absurd questions."

"Well, it's only _absurd_," she mocked lightly, "because we're in a supermarket."

"Then why bother asking?"

Kagome shifted back to face him, her teasing grin still drawn on, and found he was staring down on her with that same curiosity in his always weirdly intense gaze.

Looking on one another, her smile fell and her focus increased. She felt like his face was so close despite him being several inches taller than her; his straight nose, his strong jawline… the pale glow of his skin looked so soft. Even under the harsh light of the fluorescents above them. In her overly attuned attention, Kagome couldn't help but notice as a piece of his white hair, the strands almost silvery, slipped and fell over his shoulder to drape along his chest.

Feeling her cheeks growing warm, Kagome turned away from the moment with a quick jerk of her head.

Ridiculous. She was being ridiculous.

**-/o&o/-**

No no no!

Kagome could feel the jug of milk shifting and slipping away from her as she tried to rearrange her basket in order to accommodate it. She hadn't expected to grab so much today; she hardly had room left and she hadn't even gotten what she came for yet!

"Crap," she mumbled somewhat unrecognizably, the corner of a little package of gummy bears in her mouth.

Just as she was sure the milk was beyond saving, Kagome felt it stop, the top of the jug still resting just barely in the crook of her arm. Then it was removed, clearly not falling to the floor seeing as no embarrassingly loud thud sounded.

She quickly looked up to see who had come to her rescue, and upon seeing his familiar face, piercing gold eyeing her, Kagome grinned wide.

"Hi there."

Of course right as she spoke the bag of candy fell from her mouth and managed to completely miss landing in her basket in favor of smacking right onto the floor. The moment Kagome had realized what had happened, she'd turned back to helplessly watch it fall. Lying on the floor now, she merely stared at the bag with a mild pout and small groan at herself and her own thoughtlessness. At least it wasn't a flimsy box or plastic container, otherwise it might have just exploded open like a colorful, albeit strange, confetti popper.

When she looked up finally, Kagome noticed he was giving her that raised brow expression. The one she remembered quite well from the day she'd apologized to him and then wished to forget _ever_ happened for _forever_, but was regretfully indelibly burned into her memory.

Closing her eyes with a sigh, Kagome adjusted the basket of items on her hip and awkwardly knelt down to grab the offending gummy bears.

Standing back up just as inelegantly, she asked, "so, how have you been?"

For a moment he said nothing, but then remarked evenly, "I see you have upgraded from interesting then."

Her brow fell as she quirked her lips, "oh ha ha."

Kagome began walking alongside him, her saved milk still in his grasp. Tilting her head to look up at him better, the raven hair of her ponytail tumbling over her shoulder, she tried again.

"_Sooo_?"

He shifted his gaze to hers briefly, then away once more. "Fine."

"Pffbbt," she scoffed, "that's not fair."

"I responded, it is not my fault if you find it unsatisfactory."

"Nuh uh, I will not accept your passive answers this time." Kagome curtly nodded her head as she returned her attention forward, a determined expression set on her face.

"Then you will be disappointed."

"Ah, come on now. I've talked about me before, it's totally your turn."

"That was your choice."

"And reciprocating is common knowledge."

"That does not require one to acquiesce."

"Gah!" she exclaimed, coming to a stop, "you're like an endless cycle of noncommittal. Come on, commit already."

He had stopped along with her, both now fully facing one another.

Kagome started to lightly tap her foot, feigning impatience but earnestly eager for him to get on with it as she waited in the silence that had settled in the small space between them.

Sighing heavily, she rolled her eyes, "seriously, it is _not_ that hard."

While they continued to stare each other down, she eventually drew on a grin, "come on, you can do it." She fist pumped the air dramatically, hoping to get a rise out of him.

His brow rose at that, nothing out of the ordinary. However, Kagome thought she saw him smirk as he turned his face from her and began walking again.

"Things have been busy," he said.

Kagome practically jumped to follow after him, her grin now a wide smile as she fell in step with his pace.

**-/o&o/-**

_Drat_, Kagome hissed silently at herself, her hand rummaging around in her overstuffed bag after a sudden hit of 'what if' came over her while she'd been searching fruitlessly for her chapstick. Where the hell were her damn keys? She was certain she'd tossed them into the stupid old thing that morning as she'd scrambled to gather the items intended for a different one back into it when the new bag couldn't be found. All of which made her late, as usual. It was a miracle she'd not been fired yet, to be honest—her boss was a godsend; even if the woman still gave her lectures on punctuality regardless.

Unfortunately, while in her distracted search, she was paying very little attention to where she was going and happened to bump into someone. She mumbled an apology immediately, waving it off along with the other person – as such events should happen, her mind couldn't help but supply, thinking on its similarity to a certain past circumstance. However, she narrowly avoided that little catastrophe only to run right into the edge of a wall, knocking her bag from her awkward hold. And, of course, the thing went and scattered some of its contents when it landed with a loud thump, the items spilling haphazardly onto the floor.

"Perfect," she groused, "just perfect."

While she was grumblingly collecting them, cursing with a glare as she spotted her keys before chucking them into the bag, grabbing at the damn chapstick she'd also been searching for and a little too harshly jamming it into her pocket, she spotted a pair of nice shoes in her line of sight. Almost immediately she could sense exactly who it was that had stopped to observe the aftermath of her mishap despite never having noticed his footwear before.

It was _him_.

She bit her lip in frustration, again silently cursing at her terrible luck.

Why was it that whenever he appeared she was always in the process of doing something stupid and embarrassing? It was like he had some bizarre 'Kagome's going to be a clumsy idiot' radar. He would no doubt gladly receive the message and then promptly get into position, preparing for the perfect moment to strike.

Biting back a groan, Kagome hurriedly shoved the remaining items into her bag, the somewhat ugly, old yellow one that was most definitely cursed, but she'd been forced to use nonetheless. And just two days ago she had purchased a smaller and very nice deep green one with silver accents, but for the life of her she simply could not find it this morning. So she had been reduced to packing all the items she'd prepared for the new bag into the old one. And as would obviously happen, because her life is perpetually tormenting her lately, she simply _had_ to run into _him_ on the day she was using it. Cursed indeed.

For some surely foolish reason, Kagome was now feeling uncomfortably self-conscious with it slung over her shoulder, like it was screaming how unattractive it was and that she was thusly so simply by associating with it.

Good God, she was _definitely_ going to burn this wretched thing the very second she found her new bag.

Despite knowing the wave of insecurity was absurd, Kagome still made sure to keep the bag on the shoulder opposite where he stood, as if it could somehow help hide the thing from the man's annoyingly perceptive gaze. Because it wasn't just that she was overcome with another irrational desire not to be found unappealing to this unfairly gorgeous man, but because he was always so impeccably dressed. Even though the attire tended to be simple and clearly toned down to a sort of casual elegance from the other pieces he undoubtedly owned.

Well, she could now tack poor taste and fashion sense onto the growing list of what he must see whenever he looked at her.

Unconsciously adjusting the thick, marginally worn strap, she inaudibly clearly her throat and attempted to prompt some level of conversation. Silence with him brought on so many emotions at times it was difficult to think clearly, and the embarrassment and subsequent shame only made it more so.

"Uh," she blurted oh so gracefully, "what's up?"

He simply eyed her for a moment, one of his perfect eyebrows arching as he gazed down on her. Just when she felt the moment of response coming, rather than let it happen, her nerves got the better of her and she jumped on his unspoken words.

"Please don't..."

"I said nothing."

"You were going to."

"You inquired on my day."

Kagome sighed, sagging like a deflated balloon. "I know I know," she weakly waved off his comment, her eyes fixed on the floor, "but I couldn't deal with whatever teasing you were about to unleash." In an effort to banish the moment, Kagome puffed out a relieving breath then turned her head up high, expression bright and resolved. "So let's just skip that train wreck and go right on to small talk!"

Even though she was purposely avoiding looking at his face, she could practically feel that raised brow and subtle smirk burning into her skin.

**-/o&o/-**

* * *

**Don't forget!**

I _ALWAYS_ have the statuses and information about any updates and/or progress of this fic, or any of my stories on my profile in the 'Status Update' section. **^-^**

_**~itsu**_


	3. Chapter 3

Be sure to check out the art that goes along with this; the fic cover image is a cropped version of the piece! It's located on Dokuga, titled the same as the fic for easy finding. If you view this fic on Dokuga or ao3, there are links to everything for this piece – the fic on archiveofourown or Dokuga, depending where you first look; the art in all three places it's posted; and the little moodboard in the two places it's posted.

Enjoy! **^-^**

* * *

**[~] kaoruhana's New Year's 2015-2016 Challenge**

**Prompts: **Day 3 – Black Dress ;Day 4 – Cake ;Day 6 – Elevator ; Day 8 – Coffee ;Day 9 – Cocktail ;Day 10 – Red ;Day 13 – Phone

**[~] kaoruhana's New Year's 2018-2019 Challenge**

**Prompts:** Day 2 – Frost ; Day 10 – Sparkly Dress ; Day 12 – Glass ; Day 14 – Blue (the color)

**[~] December Holiday Challenge 2018**

**Prompts: **Day 2 – Hot Chocolate ; Day 19 – Bells

* * *

**-/o&o/-**

Kagome fought off a much too eager smile as her stomach jumped in a small, child-like rush of excitement when she saw that already so familiar white hair. Granted, it was styled a bit differently today, the silky strands brought together and held in a thin grey tie just a little below the nape of his neck. The tail of silvery white draped down his similarly unmistakable back, the silhouette of his entire attractive physique coupled with the elegant posture somehow uniquely his own.

It was _him_. Her store friend.

Her moment of blushing anticipation drifted into intrigued curiosity as she finally noticed he was standing near motionless before the freezers filled with numerous types of ice cream in endless flavors and sizes. While it was certainly a place Kagome enjoyed to peruse, he had never struck her as much of a sweet tooth, or at least not for a confection like ice cream. Maybe gelato, or something fancier like that.

Unable to keep off a smile, Kagome walked up to his side, stopping with a slight bounce on her heels as she pretended to observe the selections as well. Somehow she could feel his eyes on her, prompting her attention to shift to the man where he was gazing down on her with a faintly indifferent mien tangled with an edge Kagome couldn't quite decipher. The most likely possibility was curiosity.

"Are you stalking me?"

Kagome's eyes widened in an instant, her cheeks hot as she flushed. With a quick jerk, she spun her head away from him, trying to keep an amused but dismissive smile on, though the corner of her mouth twitched. God, she hoped he didn't know about how she actually kinda sorta _had_ stalked him – just a bit – back before they'd met. Kagome would probably die from the mortification of it all.

"Of course not, don't be so arrogant." She knew her cheeks were still pink, but she tipped her chin up and peeked at him from the corner of her eyes, a smirk on her lips now.

He grinned so faintly himself that she almost missed it before he turned away and looked back to the frost-crusted doors.

"Then what brings you to distract me?"

"Well, I thought I'd say hi. Plus, I was a bit surprised to see you here."

"You have seen me here numerous times."

Her lips quirked, "I meant _here_, in front of the ice cream."

"Hn." Though the sound of the faint intonation wasn't uncommon for her to hear, Kagome was surprised that she could swear she heard a tease in the hum.

Of course. He knew exactly what she was talking about, duh. Kagome rolled her eyes at herself, trying to brush off her mild embarrassment for not realizing it earlier.

Exhaling inaudibly, she asked, "so, what does bring you here? You don't strike me as much of an ice cream lover."

"I have no particular preference either way. But no, I am not searching for myself."

"Oh?" Kagome looked up to him with a tilt of her head, "then how come?"

"A request. ..More of a command, really." His brow twitched a little, creasing slightly for a moment in annoyance.

"A command?" she grinned incredulously, "you don't seem like the submissive type. Who exactly would command _you_?"

He huffed out the quietest chuckle she'd ever heard – if it actually were one and not her imagination desperately wishing it to be – through a smirk that was nearly a smile, and if it weren't him Kagome would probably never notice the slight expression. He seemed to be teetering between amused and pleased by her remark, something which made her very curious as to why. However, she didn't get a chance to inquire as he instead filled the silence with an answer.

"My father requested it."

Her brow furrowed as her smile grew, "your dad did? That seems…odd."

He glanced down on her, mild hesitance in his golden regard, as if he were deciding whether or not to answer her properly, revealing more about himself than perhaps he was used to.

With a slow blink, the man sighed lightly and looked away again. "His wife is pregnant and near demanded it of him. And then the errand was forced upon me."

Kagome's numerous questions at that statement were overridden by the way he'd referred to his mother, unattached and almost bordering on disrespectful.

Frowning, she admonished lightly, "you really shouldn't call your mother 'his wife,' it's rude."

"She is not my mother."

"..Oh."

Almost as a reflex, Kagome put her hand to her mouth, feeling terrible now for being so insensitive and thoughtless. So then, his parents were divorced, or perhaps his mother had passed away. Despite the shame flushing her cheeks, Kagome was strangely glad to have learned this about him. Still, she thought she ought to apologize regardless.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions."

He shrugged in a faint, fluid movement. "There is no reason for you to apologize. You had no way of knowing."

"Yeah, but…" she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, staring at the floor.

A small silence passed wherein she could sense his eyes on her, the intensity they radiated at times never ceased to peak her attention even when she couldn't see them.

"You need not worry, my mother is alive and well. The divorce had little effect on me and it was many years ago, as was his remarriage."

Kagome smiled at the man's reveal of his past, his life. "Oh, well that's good then."

Her eyes continued to flick back and forth to him when he declined to make any further comment, noticing his again somewhat passive observation of the food before him.

Desiring to help, as well as not quite wanting to leave yet, Kagome asked, "so, what flavor does she like?"

"I have no idea."

"No idea?" she frowned dubiously with a crease between her dark brows, "how can you not know?"

His shoulders rose just as elegantly as before. "I know little about the woman."

Her lips twisted, "but if your father remarried so long ago then shouldn't you know her at least somewhat?"

"I never took much interest."

Kagome rolled her eyes, turning her body toward him more. "You must have noticed things over the years. Come on, think."

She caught as his eyes rolled as well, however he did appear to be thinking in spite of his silent response. With every second that passed, Kagome eagerly waited, but after a period of time wherein he had yet to answer, she felt compelled to ask, "okay, what are your ideas?"

He sighed faintly, his gaze unseeing as he replied, "I believe she likes strawberries. Or at least I recall seeing her eating them on numerous occasions. And I suppose, as with the majority of people, she possibly enjoys chocolate as well."

A wide smile grew on Kagome's face, her eyes softening as she beamed up at him. For a moment he looked at her, the faintest glint of something in his eyes, but it came and went so fast Kagome didn't have time to wonder on what it was.

Shrugging it off, she looked back to the freezers and suggested brightly, "alright, so an ice cream with strawberry and chocolate. That's completely doable."

They began to search the vast array of choices, scanning the images on the packaging, skimming the words for mention of either, particularly one with the two together. Admittedly it was mostly Kagome doing the searching, he didn't move too much along the aisle while she more fervently took to the mission.

Dragging her finger against the cold doors, leaving a trail of clearer glass, Kagome suddenly perked up, spotting one she herself thought sounded good and was a little less of the expected strawberry and chocolate swirl variety.

Kagome grabbed it quickly and hurried back to his side, his eyes already set on her.

"Here you go, strawberry with chocolate fudge brownie." She smiled, noticing the arch of one his snowy brows at her enthusiasm with her choice, but he took the item nonetheless. "I hope she likes it."

"Hn," he shrugged, observing the ice cream container with a relatively indifferent mien.

Her smile twisted into a smirk. For some reason it amused her to see his rather blatant lack of care in both the circumstance and her choice, and yet he was here anyway, choosing something for the woman. Kagome couldn't really tell how much he might actually care, or if it truly was pure deference to his father's request, but she liked to think it was at least a mix of the two. It was an interesting contrast to the man's general air.

Suddenly and yet not, he looked up at last from the item and his eyes almost immediately joined with hers. The moment jerked Kagome out of her thought process and into a flush; inaudible stammers never leaving her marginally parted lips.

Needing a chance to settle herself, Kagome messed with her hair again, moving a raven strand behind her ear with a grin. "You know, I've never seen you with your hair up like that."

He tipped his head just a little, his eyes still fixed on her, forcing a blush to grow stronger on her cheeks, warming her ears and the nape of her neck. Feeling the gut churning need to escape, Kagome flicked her eyes back and forth from his, and as she shifted herself, ready to flee, she couldn't help but finish the thought drowning her mind.

"It looks nice."

Without seeing what his expression was in response to her compliment, Kagome spun on her heel and walked off down the aisle as calmly as she could force herself to manage, her heart thrumming wildly.

**-/o&o/-**

Grimacing, Kagome pushed the bottle of body wash back onto the packed shelving.

She was annoyed. For whatever stupid reason she couldn't fathom, the brand she almost religiously used had stopped making the scent she preferred. Now Kagome was forced into finding a suitable replacement amongst the oddly titled horde of others.

And that was where she'd been standing for the last five minutes, when, as she replaced her latest bottle, she noticed a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye. Despite the frustration she'd had since her discovery, Kagome felt her mood lighten instantly when she turned her head to see _him_. Her store friend.

She could already see in his eyes that he was clearly curious as to what she was doing. Obviously he'd never tested out soap scents before or he'd surely recognize the process. Though he really didn't look the type to care much about that. He probably just read a label and grabbed what he thought was suitable; or maybe he didn't even bother with that and merely picked up whatever.

Stopping at her side, he tilted his head just slightly and asked, "what are you doing?"

Fighting a smile at his enquiring gesture, Kagome responded, "I'm trying to find a new body wash I like."

"The scent is clearly labeled on the bottle."

She rolled her eyes a little at his comment. "Sure, but what does," she picked up a bottle and read the fragrance name, '_orange sunrise'_ even mean?"

"There is an image of the used scents right on the bottle."

Ignoring him for a moment, Kagome took a slight whiff of her current choice but wrinkled her nose almost immediately; she then snapped the lid shut and returned it to the shelf. Orange sunrise was not nearly as pleasant as a real one, nor a real orange either for that matter.

"Yeah," she lightly agreed at last, "but they use more than one thing, so you have to see how the two complement each other."

He was quiet for a moment, no doubt eyeing her with that raised brow expression he seemed mysteriously fond of. However, Kagome was too busy retrieving a new bottle to glance over at him, where she would only inevitably see him doing so. Plus it would upset her focus.

Surprising her, he loosely shifted his side of the conversation, "then why are you squeezing the bottle when you are already opening the top?"

Grinning, she replied, "so I can get a better whiff of course." Closing the top, she went on to casually explain, "you just squeeze it gently to get a puff of scented air from it."

While Kagome replaced the bottle, he had again gone quiet beside her. This time she took the chance to look over at him. Unexpectedly, she found him regarding her with a curious yet settled look in his golden eyes, his generally poised posture relaxed. It was almost as if he were waiting for something.

Confused, her brow wrinkling as she observed him, Kagome asked just that. "What? You look like you're waiting for something."

"I am," he replied evenly.

Tipping her head away as she grabbed another bottle and expertly popped the top up, she inquired further, "and just what is that?"

"The inevitable conclusion to this experiment of yours."

Shutting her eyes with a slight smirk, Kagome scoffed, "oh," her fingers gently pressed in on the bottle, "and what might that b—"

Her words were cut short, her eyes breaking open in surprise as a bit of the floral scented soap squirted out and shot right up, both onto and slightly into her nose.

The shock of her luckless turn of events was thankfully only brief, and Kagome soon slowly closed her eyes once more as her mounting embarrassment fought with her equally increasing annoyance. Why did he have to be right all the time?!

Hoping to get the jump on any response that might come from him, Kagome hissed a warning out through her teeth, "don't you say a word."

Keeping her eyes shut, she swiftly turned a little from him to wipe off her nose. She had nowhere but her sleeve to put the stupid bit of offending soap, and it only made everything more humiliating that she had to do that. Why couldn't it have been lotion? At least that way Kagome could have simply used it. But no, it had to be soap, and he _had_ to be there to witness it.

She lightly shook her head, sniffling quietly after rubbing out the bits that had gotten a little into her nose. Straightening up now that she was soap free, Kagome drew in a slow, calming breath as she steadied herself. Now she just had to turn around with her head held high and act like she hadn't lost at least seventy percent of her already previously damaged dignity.

The only problem was Kagome couldn't be certain what would greet her. No, actually she had a pretty good idea. He would be silently staring at her with his stupid pretty face and his stupid intense eyes, the gold laughing while his lips would be curled into a small smirk at her expense.

Before she'd met him, Kagome would have thought a beautiful man laughing outloud at her in the middle of a supermarket would be the death of her; ultimate humiliation. But not anymore. Somehow that expression of his both made her gut simultaneously churn with butterflies and fall into a pit of mortification. It simply wasn't fair that he could do that. Though, to be honest, it wasn't as though anything fair had happened to her since meeting him anyway. It seemed to be his gift.

Settling a determined and unruffled expression on her face, Kagome twisted round on her heels and purposefully avoided looking at him. Instead, she strolled right on past the man.

Of course that wouldn't stop him from joining up beside her, and it didn't. He was there in a second, easily matching her slightly increased pace.

"So," he chimed in with his stupidly pretty voice, "what is the verdict?"

Kagome could swear she heard that smirk on his lips as he spoke.

Doing her best not to grit her teeth, she tightened her grip on her basket and grumbled, "shut up."

While they walked down the aisle, and completely against her better judgment, Kagome couldn't help stealing a peek at the man. He was indeed looking directly at her, the tiny smirk she both loved and dreaded drawn on.

Unable to help herself despite the slight warmth Kagome felt on her cheeks, no doubt blushing, she swiftly frowned at him and then stuck out her tongue. Not caring about being childish, she turned away and quickened her pace. And just as she did, Kagome could have sworn she heard the tiniest, low chuckle come from behind her.

Now her cheeks were practically glowing red.

**-/o&o/-**

"OH, pardon me," Kagome rushed out after stumbling into a woman who appeared to be in quite a hurry, a small child at her side loudly complaining about something or other. She smiled apologetically at the woman in the brief interim of the exchange, though it went mostly unnoticed in her haste.

Kagome watched the pair for a few moments more before looking back to her path, the aisle she'd been heading into occupied by none other than her apparent tormenter. Kagome huffed out a sigh, bemoaning her bad luck. She was either embarrassing herself in front of him or being flustered because of him; it was totally unfair.

Nonetheless, rather than hide in her shame, she decided to suck it up and headed over to him, the words on the tip of her tongue becoming far too familiar a greeting with this man.

"Don't even say it."

"Say what?"

"Whatever it is you want to say."

"I had no intention of commenting on your evident propensity to run into others."

Kagome rolled her eyes with a frown, knowing she should have realized he would somehow manage to say it no matter what.

Hoping to push that aside, she opted to drastically shift the subject, which just so happened to be onto his clothing. His jacket, to be precise. Sleek and black; it looked expensive, unsurprisingly, but comfortable too. She wondered if the leather was real or one of those really well made but faux types.

"Your jacket's nice. Is it real leather?" she asked, trying to sound casual and not overly invested in whatever information she could glean from him.

Appearing almost offended somehow, he said, "of course."

She eyed him incredulously. Not because she didn't believe him, but because she couldn't really tell if he was actually offended by her insinuating his jacket might not be made of real leather. It seemed ridiculous to be put out by that, but, then again he seemed to have a measure of pride in his appearance. His attire might be on the simple side, but it always looked high quality, and was well coordinated too. In the end, she supposed she should have suspected the response to be along those lines.

Opting to draw back the topic a bit, she looked down at herself, brushing absently at the soft blue fabric of the cable knit dress she wore, a pair of charcoal grey leggings beneath. "I decided not to wear a jacket today in order to show off my new dress." She grinned a bit sheepishly, knowing it was sort of a cheap way to fish for a compliment. "Although if I'd known how cold it was going to end up being today I would have brought one with me this morning."

Kagome kept him in the corner of her eye, and though he was observing her in that pointed way of his, he remained silent. She twisted her lips in thought, trying to decide how far down this road to go before it would be prudent to give up.

"I just got it earlier today. The saleswoman said it matched my eyes, made them pop or whatever, and normally I try not to let that sort of thing sway me since I know some people will do whatever it takes to make a sale, buuuut," she chuckled, one hand absently toying with a box of hot chocolate on the shelf before them, "I caved."

Kagome shrugged then, grinning as she returned her full focus on the man at her side. "Besides, it was nice to get a compliment."

Unlike the continued silence she'd been resignedly expecting, he said matter-of-factly, "it does."

"Oh," she murmured, staring, then couldn't stop as a bright smile pulled at her lips, "thank you. Looks like I'm up on compliments today now. Woo!" she cheered lightly to herself.

He was pinning her with an indecipherable look, commenting after an apparent silent observation, "you tend to be a bit peculiar at times."

Her brow flattened with a barely there frown of not quite playful uncertainty, "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment, making me two and O, or knocking me back down to zero."

"Very peculiar."

"Okay now I'm negative one," she put her hands on her hips, canting one as she pouted at him, "rude."

A faint smirk was gracing his stupidly pretty face, and for a moment she thought a comment was about to follow when instead a musical tone sounded from somewhere close by. It was like bells, but not the loud and intense church type bells, it was more like handbells. The tone was short and somewhat soft, but pretty. And Kagome didn't have to wait long to figure out where the sound originated, as soon after the man pulled out a slim black cellphone from the back pocket of his attractively cut navy denim jeans.

He quickly tapped in a passcode then swiped at the screen, bringing up what was most likely a text message. In an instant his expression darkened. It wasn't a big change, really, but somehow Kagome could make out the way several shades of annoyance fell over what was once a much lighter, almost amused look.

Kagome tipped her head, trying to catch his eyes. "Is… is everything okay?"

He huffed sharply, "yes." Turning his head up, his mien returned to something more neutral, and certainly not like the one he'd worn just seconds earlier, he added, "I must go."

"Uh," Kagome blinked at the abrupt delivery, "oh, okay. Well, see ya then. I guess."

Rather than leave immediately, he remained in place. His already tight looking grip on the phone strengthened marginally, his knuckles turning white for the briefest instant before he then swiftly returned it to his back pocket.

"Yes," he said.

Their eyes remained locked, they both remained still, and while it was surely only mere milliseconds passing, Kagome felt like it was ages, and in the endless expanse she was quickly getting lost in those pools of molten gold. For a moment, a clearly impossible moment, she could have sworn his lips parted, like he were about to say something, but it must have been her imagination. Because following a curt nod in her direction, he sidestepped and walked past her, heading back to the entrance of the store and out to whatever world he occupied when it wasn't here, in this silly supermarket, with her.

Kagome hadn't moved, and was still staring up at where he once was, the image of his pale beauty seemingly burned into her vision and leaving an afterimage where nothing currently stood.

When the realization of how stupidly enamored that was finally hit her, Kagome felt her cheeks burn.

What was she thinking? She really was totally ridiculous. _Peculiar, _for sure.

Shaking her head to dislodge the haze she'd been stuck in, Kagome drew in a deep breath and stepped forward.

**-/o&o/-**

Kagome was growing a little impatient, standing at the counter of the small bakery in the store, waiting with carefully hidden frustration for the manager to come over.

Absently glancing around, trying to bid away the time and keep from snapping the moment the manager arrived, Kagome's eye caught a glint of something familiar.

Oh no… Of course. _Of course_ this would happen.

Several feet away, standing like he'd been caught off-guard, she spotted _him_. And as much as the part of her that had been growing like a love-struck weed in the past couple months wanted to talk with him, the rest, the vexed and exasperated part sincerely hoped he didn't come over and take part in her furthering embarrassment. Although she didn't imagine she'd get that lucky. No, she could practically see that little smirk of his waiting in the wings to grow, effectively laughing at her with his eyes.

Refusing to take any hint she tried to send, he broke from his previous path and casually made his way over to where she dejectedly slumped against the counter, waiting for him. However, before either had a chance to talk, Kagome spotted the manager coming at last.

Kagome straightened up, then cast a pointed look at the man from the corner of her eye. Hissing through her teeth, she warned, "don't say _anything_. And don't you _dare_ laugh."

The manager, an older woman a little large and matronly in appearance, stopped on the other side of the counter, her soft features wearing an apologetic grin.

"I heard all about it," she said, getting straight to the point, "and I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience. Of course, we will get you a new cake free of charge."

Kagome pulled on a smile, trying her best to seem cordial and forgiving. "Thank you, I appreciate it."

Bringing over another cake, the woman rolled up her floury white sleeves and started piping out the icing right there so Kagome could see exactly what was written for herself and no mishaps could occur. And thankfully, the woman was fast.

Finishing up with a few decorative touches here and there, she remarked with a small little laugh, "I guess there's a first time for everything."

Kagome awkwardly chuckled back, brushing a hand through her hair as she said, "yeah…I really wish I could say that."

The woman paused while shifting the cake into a box, surprise on her face. "Oh, well," she stuttered a bit, seemingly trying to find something more professional to say. "I certainly hope it wasn't _our_ bakery that did such a thing twice now."

"No no," Kagome assured her, "it was somewhere else a few years back."

Placing a sealing sticker on the thin box, the older woman handed the cake off. "Well I hope it doesn't happen again. And don't you worry, I'm going to have a talk with my employee about this little problem."

"Please don't be too hard on him, it honestly wasn't that big a deal."

The woman crossed her arms with a huff, "writing his phone number on a cake instead of the request by the client is _not_ what I hired that young man for. He needs to get his hormones in check." She then shook her head with a mumble, "I knew I shouldn't have hired him, he's too young for this job."

A little more flushed and embarrassed than before, Kagome cleared her throat softly, "anyway, thank you again. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

The woman looked back to her and quickly pulled on that big, motherly smile, "not at all, dear. Please enjoy the cake!"

"Yes, thank you. Bye now."

Kagome quickly turned and started walking away from the counter, her eyes shifting to find the man's, silently telling him to follow and stop loitering around the area. As she did, she could see that tiny smirk she'd been dreading.

Quietly, she muttered, "shut up," as he easily fell in step at her side.

"I did not say anything."

"You want to, I can tell."

A small silence passed, then he calmly asked, "what is the occasion?"

She glanced over to him and noticed how he was looking her up and down with a curious glint in his sharp gaze, likely noting how she was rather dressed up for a simple store run. And in her haste to retrieve her order on time, she'd even forgotten her nice coat in the car, so there was no hiding her attire even a little.

"Today is some friends' wedding anniversary, and they wanted to do something nice this year."

"A store bought cake does not usually go with a cocktail party."

She sighed, "yeah, I know. It was a last resort. My mother completely botched the cake this morning and sent me out for a quick one. I left the order, and was told I would be able to pick it up later. Well it's beyond later, and now _I'm_ going to be late because of all this."

"It is too bad." He confusingly said as they walked at a strangely unhurried pace through the aisles, heading toward the exit.

She furrowed her brow as she looked up at him. "Too bad? What is?"

"You lost your chance to bring a date."

She narrowed her eyes with a frown, not exactly appreciating being teased by the embodiment of gorgeous she'd been stupidly crushing on. "Very funny."

"No really, you should have someone to appreciate your attire."

Kagome bit back the blush rising on her cheeks in spite of herself, knowing he was simply joking around with her and not complimenting how she looked in her brand new, somewhat tight fitting black dress. The one that Sango had practically demanded she buy the other day at the mall, because it was 'just so perfect, the exact combination of sexy and elegant.' Whereas the sparkly red one she'd eyed was 'too ostentatious, and almost a little trashy.' She'd simply rolled her eyes at both comments, but eventually gave in; the dress was on sale anyway.

Actually, now that she was thinking on that trip, Kagome recalled quite clearly how she'd seen _him_ there. He was coming out from the glass-walled elevator that had just descended from the second floor, a tall, very attractive woman at his side. She remembered even more vividly, _embarrassedly_, how she'd jerked straight and then swiftly ducked back into the little coffee shop to hide from them.

Keeping her eyes from him, Kagome gathered up the courage to inquire upon the scene she'd witnessed, the uncomfortable curiosity mounting as she waited for either a let down or build up.

"Speaking of dates," she began, "I happened to see you with a young woman at the mall the other day. Is she your girlfriend?" Kagome did her absolute best to sound casually interested, vaguely teasing; it was surprisingly difficult.

Unexpectedly, she heard him scoff. "Hardly."

Kagome had to bite her lip to keep the smile from forming there at his answer. "Oh?" she intoned, "then who was she? She was very attractive." Feeling a little more confident, Kagome glanced up at him.

He shrugged lightly. "I cannot say much about her appearance, but she is my half-brother's fiancé. She needed a ride and he was too busy."

Allowing her smile to grow, she said, "that was nice of you."

"I only did it to escape my mother."

"Your mother?"

"She is in town and being a pest."

If Kagome hadn't been able to read it from his face, where the small crease between his brows and slight down turn of his mouth showed his distaste, his tone certainly would have. Apparently he did not get along with his mother. Personally, she adored her mom, so she wondered what could make him so unhappy with the woman. In fact, the darkening in his expression reminded her a little of a few weeks ago when he'd gotten a text, interrupting their conversation. Perhaps that was her?

As much as Kagome wanted to pry, she didn't think it was really her place, plus the door was suddenly right ahead of them. It seemed their slow pace was not enough to keep her back in order to continue talking with him.

"Well, I'm sorry for that," she stopped and turned to face him as he did as well, "but I still think it was nice of you all the same."

She grinned, pleased to see his minor moment of surprise and then acceptance in his strong gaze. As they looked on one another, Kagome found she really didn't want to say goodbye, but she had to. She was already rather late now, and if she didn't hurry Sango might straight up slap her with a damn table. Or at least _somebody_ with a table…

"Bye then, I have a party to barely make it to." She chuckled a little and swiftly turned around, heading out as fast as she could in the stupid 3-inch heels she'd decided to buy along with the dress. Getting sucked in by pretty things seemed to be her curse.

As she left, she thought she could feel his eyes on her, but when she chanced a look over her shoulder, he was nowhere to be seen.

**-/o&o/-**

* * *

That bodywash section was loosely based on my own experience, in that I too have had soap go up my nose when trying to sample a scent. It is not pleasant.

**Don't forget!**

I _ALWAYS_ have the statuses and information about any updates and/or progress of this fic, or any of my stories on my profile in the 'Status Update' section. **^-^**

_**~itsu**_


	4. Chapter 4

Be sure to check out the art that goes along with this; the fic cover image is a cropped version of the piece! It's located on Dokuga, titled the same as the fic for easy finding. If you view this fic on Dokuga or ao3, there are links to everything for this piece – the fic on archiveofourown or Dokuga, depending where you first look; the art in all three places it's posted; and the little moodboard in the two places it's posted.

This is the final chapter. Enjoy! **^-^**

* * *

**[~] kaoruhana's New Year's 2015-2016 Challenge**

**Prompts: **Day 1 – Champagne ; Day 2 – Christmas Lights ;Day 7 – DJ ; Day 12 – Road ; Day 16 – Bright

**[~] kaoruhana's New Year's 2018-2019 Challenge**

**Prompts:** Day 4 – Hat ; Day 5 – Champagne ; Day 9 – Stars ; Day 11 – Scarf ; Day 16 – Lights ; Day 17 – Music

**[~] December Holiday Challenge 2018**

**Prompts: **Day 3 – White ; Day 7 – Ornaments ; Day 9 – Wine ; Day 13 – Tinsel ; Day 22 – Blanket ; Day 23 – Movie

**Champagne was a double prompt

* * *

**-/o&o/-**

Kagome rushed through the automatic doors, due in part to her headlong run and part being shoved by the strong gust of cold air that swept past. She shivered, shaking off the chill before reaching to grab a basket.

The air had grown much colder lately, and the days flew by too fast as well, already Halloween had rushed right on by, and thanksgiving was knocking on the door. With so many holidays piled together, the end of the year felt simultaneously endless and yet so quick it was like you blink and go from the first day of autumn to suddenly Christmas.

Halloween had been fun, Sango and Miroku hosted a big party at their place – costumes mandatory; a stipulation she was pretty sure was Miroku's. There was even a freaking DJ and strobe lights, which was just another thing she suspected Miroku had a hand in.

During the outrageous silliness of it all though, they'd still taken turns answering the door to hand out candy to the many adorable kids that came trick-or-treating.

All of that felt like only a week ago, but it was actually nearing the end of November, which meant thanksgiving. This year Kagome was again helping her mother cook, the two of them typically did most of it on their own. The Higurashi family never did anything particularly extravagant or excessive for the holiday, but it was always a little special nonetheless.

Kagome was humming softly to herself, picking up a can and inspecting the label, when she sensed a person come up beside her. A little too close, actually. She was about to simply step to the side, probably blocking something the person was looking for, however when she looked over, her eyes instead met a pair of familiar golden ones.

"Why are you humming?" he asked, pointblank.

She almost answered a kneejerk response, but instead pulled it back, saying, "really? Not 'how are you?,' not even just 'hello.'?" Kagome clicked her tongue, setting the can back on the shelf with a noticeable clunk. "Honestly."

He eyed her quietly, the faintest quirk to his brow hinting that he was possibly fighting off the urge to look at her as though she were, in his own choice of word, _peculiar_.

"Hello," he said.

Kagome nodded with approval. "Hello to you too."

"Why are you humming?"

She immediately scoffed, rolling her eyes. "_You're_ the ridiculous one," she declared, pressing a meaningful finger into his chest – his very solid chest, damn. Then, leaning back with an unnecessarily dramatic flip of her hair, she stepped aside and continued walking down the aisle.

"You did not answer my question," he remarked evenly, matching her pace as if he'd always been meant to walk at her side and not be left behind in the dust of a scathing comment.

Knowing it would be useless to ignore him, even if she actually wanted to – which she honestly didn't –, she echoed his request, "why am I humming?"

"Yes."

Kagome tipped her head to the side, not having considered it, primarily because it honestly wasn't really something to consider. Most people didn't put much, if any, thought into why they suddenly hum little tunes to themselves.

"I'm just in a good mood," she decided on answering, giving a small shrug along with it. "Does there have to be a reason?"

He was quiet, enough so that Kagome took the chance to glance over at him and found he actually appeared thoughtful, like it hadn't occurred to him to do such a thing simply _because_. In fact, the man had never struck her as someone who ever did much of anything without an explicit reason.

"I suppose not," he concluded.

She watched a little longer, not even turning away at first when he caught her notice, his deep eyes laden with that curious look she apparently brought out in him. Kagome grinned, mostly to herself, and began to hum once again as the man continued to follow her through the aisles. He remained quiet, but it was comfortably so, and it almost made her wonder if he was listening to her and actually enjoying what he heard. The idea sent a warm spark through her chest and out to each limb, warming her cheeks enough she was sure the cold wouldn't bother her anymore.

**-/o&o/-**

The Christmas season was here, and Kagome had just finished a long and tiring day at her second job. As much as she'd grown to eagerly anticipate her outings to the store, this time she was dearly hoping _he_ wouldn't be there. She'd been stuck late and had had no time to run home and change before the store closed, but she _really_ needed some things. Unfortunately, just what she'd dreaded happening… happened.

Suddenly she heard his smooth voice behind her, the relatively even baritone had a faint bit of humor in it as he commented, "you are wearing antlers."

She sighed heavily and turned around to face him, where he had an equally faint expression that matched his tone. Glancing around with yet another heavy sigh as she read the question in his steady gaze, she opened her coat to show him her costume. An uncomfortably revealing Santa's little helper one. Kagome quickly closed it, noting how his eyebrow raised as he took in the thing he'd surely not been expecting.

She mumbled as she closed her coat, "yeah yeah, great I know," she wrapped her arms around herself, "and just my luck they were out of hats, so I got stuck with reindeer antlers… Not that that made the outfit any better."

For a moment she could have sworn he was going to laugh, and hoping to get a preemptive strike on the even more humiliating possibility no matter how much she kind of wanted to hear what his laugh sounded like, she reached out a hand to cover his mouth.

Stepping closer, she whispered with a mix of annoyance and anxiety, "don't you _dare_ laugh."

His annoyingly perfect brow was still raised as their eyes remained locked, but she soon removed her hand and stepped back, holding her jacket tighter as she looked away with a small blush on her cheeks. Even though numerous times she'd thought he would out right _laugh_ at her, clearly seeing the humor in his eyes, he'd never actually done so. Not once. So _what on earth_ possessed her to go and _touch_ him?!

Trying to pretend her rosy flush was purely due to her costume trauma, she muttered irately, "luckily this dumb job is seasonal."

She glanced up at him briefly before turning with her head held high and moving farther into the store with the sincere hope to quickly gather what she needed and get out.

To her chagrin, he followed her.

**-/o&o/-**

Mind periodically drifting elsewhere, Kagome was partially spacing out as she stood in the relatively quiet store, nineties songs that were once greatest hits playing softly over the PA in the background.

It was just a few days before New Year's, and here she was, dejectedly perusing the strangely copious champagne section after having decided against wine, thinking on how she had nothing to do this year for the holiday. Again.

Of course her family had celebrated as usual for Christmas, and it was wonderful and merry and all that hallmark jazz. The season was probably her favorite, in fact, and she always went out of her way to help make it special for everyone, as much as for herself. Though she put more effort into decorating the family house than she did her own apartment; small as it was, there wasn't all that much she could do without it looking cluttered.

A couple days before Christmas, she'd gone out for a nice dinner with Sango and Miroku, as they were spending their holiday up until the fifth of January in a winter cabin at a ski resort. Kouga was with family this year, and while she would consider Ginta and Hokaku friends, they weren't the sort to hang out alone with on holidays.

_Ugh_, she moaned internally. Giving a shake of her head, Kagome refocused on the choices before her, the shine of the racked bottles offering little in way of assistance on which to chose.

"Preparing for New Year's?" a voice suddenly said beside her.

Kagome _actually_ yipped, nearly jumping in her surprise as she whipped around to face the source of the very familiar, unfairly lovely voice. A pair of golden eyes caught hers, the intensity already saying what she'd naturally assumed. That he'd been observing her prior to interrupting her melancholy reverie.

Heart rate settled, Kagome shook her head with a small scoff, "hardly. I don't have any plans whatsoever."

"Then why bother looking at champagne?"

She shrugged, grabbing one that seemed like it would be nice and putting it in the basket on her arm, the bottle joining with the other little items she'd gotten to celebrate pitifully on her own again.

"I'm going to party by myself. I've already strung up a set of Christmas lights in my tiny living room to match the equally tiny tree I bought and over-decorated with ornaments and tinsel. I'll play festive holiday music, then watch movies of both the winter and Christmas variety while I drink dramatically right from the bottle and eat cheese and crap on little crackers like I'm fancy."

He raised a brow at her theatrical declaration, smirking just faintly, "sounds riveting."

She rolled her eyes to him, mirthlessly chuckling, "ha ha."

Adjusting the basket in her arms to something more comfortable after the overly tight grip she'd adopted in her despondent state and then sudden shock, she turned fully to better face him. "So, how was your Christmas?"

There was a dark flicker of something in his gaze for a moment, a brief shadow that reminded her of whenever his mother came up, but it passed rather quickly. Too fast for her to be sure and warrant asking after – not that she wasn't itching to regardless, but she didn't want to spook him into not answering at all.

"The same," he said finally.

Kagome twisted her lips, raising a brow at him, "the same? Pray tell, what's 'the same' for your esteemed family?"

He arched a brow right back, though his always felt significantly more powerful. "It is the same."

"Ugh," she groaned, "don't repeat yourself. Elaborate!"

He tipped his head back slightly, eyeing her in a curious manner that she couldn't fully decipher. Eventually he released a very faint sigh, "it is bothersome."

A wide grin broke across her face, "I don't mind bothersome."

After another long gaze and subtle sigh, he began.

**-/o&o/-**

It was New Year's Eve, and of course she had nowhere to go. Her mother and grandpa were busy with the shrine, and Souta was with friends. All _her_ friends had plans with their significant others, and the ones who didn't were off at parties she didn't want any part of. Why couldn't she have friends who went to normal parties? Or why couldn't she have a significant other to spend a more romantic evening with?

As _his_ face came to mind, she quickly shoved it aside. He was just a friend. Just a friend… One who probably had a girlfriend, because how could someone so pretty _not_ be snatched up already? And regardless of whether he did or not, he surely had plans of some sort; _everyone_ seemed to.

Finally noticing how the snow was crunching beneath her boots, Kagome glanced around and realized how familiar the area was, but it was the wrong kind of familiar. This wasn't the way home. As she realized where her feet had been taking her, she groaned, the breath puffing out as a cloud of vapor in the freezing air.

Knowing she might as well just keep going and head home another way, as if she had merely gone to the store, she continued on, holding her arms across her chest while she huddled into her scarf for warmth. When she rounded the corner she was forced to stop dead in her tracks.

Standing outside the closed store, the gentle luminescence of the late night glowing around him, was her friend, the one she'd been just thinking of, the one she hadn't been expecting to see again for a few more days if she was lucky. He was unfairly lovely as he stood there, calm and tall, those large hands she liked tucked in his coat pockets, his long silvery-white hair that she yearned to touch was free and draping down his back, and the scarf she'd seen him wearing on occasion lately was around his neck. He was releasing his own small puffs of air as he stood, seemingly waiting for something or someone, or merely gazing off into the night sky. The small flakes of snow clouding it and shrouding whatever few visible stars were lingering up there as they fell.

She didn't know what to do, if she should go to him, say something, do something. Her mind wasn't really working; she was overwhelmed with the discombobulating rush of being both terribly confused and incredibly happy.

Then she saw his eyes shift to her, locking with her own. Surprising her, he didn't look at all shocked to see her there, he appeared mostly the same, if not perhaps a little more animated at merely recognizing a familiar face.

Sucking in a deep breath, Kagome started walking again and made her way over to his side, where he remained as he had before. Without looking at him, she casually inquired, "did you come here without thinking too?"

He hummed his passive "yes," which made her smile a little.

Absentmindedly, while observing the flurry filled sky as well, she asked, "so how come you're still here?"

He responded softly, "I was waiting."

"Waiting?" Confused, she turned her attention to him with a crease in her brow, gazing up into his face for an answer. "What for?"

As if sensing her stare, he looked down at her, their eyes locking in that way that made her breath catch in her throat.

Just as softly, just as smooth and even, he said, "you."

Her already flushed cheeks warmed to a dark red as her eyes widened, the blue nearly shimmering with her astonishment. "M-me? Why…why me?"

"You had no plans."

"Oh," her face fell a little as the keen hope and uncomfortable yet wondrous flutters inside her died down. "Thanks, but…you didn't have to change your plans for me."

"I did not."

The furrow of her brow deepening, she focused more intently on him again. "What?"

Suddenly Kagome felt his arm slip around her waist and pull her against him, his grip at her lower back forcing her up onto her toes, and his other hand, covered in a thin, soft leather glove, came to rest aside her once again deep red cheek.

Whispering, his visible breath tangling with her own rapid ones, "this was always my plan."

Her hands, once crushed against his chest, were gripping the front of his coat as she eagerly leaned up farther. Her eyes were shifting between his molten gaze and his teasing mouth, her own parted, the few inches between them now was the only thing keeping who they were from shattering and she didn't care in the least. She wanted to go even further, she'd always wanted it, and if she moved just a little more she could have it.

But she didn't get a chance to make a final decision, because he slipped his gloved hand along her cheek and into her hair, forcing her right onto his unexpectedly burning lips. The second they touched she felt every little needy, wanting, dangerous thought or feeling she'd ever had about him explode, and greedily she drew him as close as physically possible. Her hazy thoughts were ecstatic to feel him pulling her in as well, his grip tightening like she would slip away if he dared loosen it. But she had no reason to slip, she didn't want to in the least.

Yet, as she tasted him at last, his always pleasant, surprisingly warm, musky scent filling her every needy breath, they were jerked out of their passionate moment when the sound of the clock tower down the road chimed out, heavy and lingering, into the empty night. Midnight had arrived. It was a new year.

They paused, hardly withdrawing as both panted in respite from their long, tangled kiss.

Feeling his eyes on her though she kept hers half-lidded, Kagome swallowed quietly, a slight feeling of apprehension in her gut, and asked, "was…was that a..a new year's kiss?" Her soft words stumbling as she exhaled her uncertainty.

"If you wish."

"What if…" she hesitated a little, quivering faintly as his hot breath wafted across her cheeks, "what if I want it to be something else?"

"Like what?" his tone was smooth as ever.

Biting her lip, his taste still there and still deliciously taunting, she felt a brave sense of determination flood her. Grasping his coat even tighter to urge him closer, her whispered exhale tangling with his, "something…more."

His lips grinned lightly against hers. "I think I can arrange that."

Feeling his rare, small smile – not that common smirk she knew so well – on her heated lips, the hopeful yearning of a bright future growing in her mind, it suddenly dawned on her that the man she'd just kissed so intently, the man she'd been interacting with for maybe half a year now, didn't even know her name, nor she his. It seemed like every time they'd met they would be caught up in each other's wake and simply started in to this or that, and somehow names never came up. It was like they'd missed the introduction part of a relationship and went right into the interaction.

As they stood beneath the lonely streetlamp on the walk before the closed store, _their_ store, the calm silence of the falling snow dusting the area around them and burying the empty road in a blanket of white, Kagome realized she had no idea how that could have happened. And as they lingered with their lips just brushing against one another, embracing so closely, so desperately, that their now enflamed body heat and hot breath were far more comfort than their coats, she realized she didn't care at all.

Without a second thought, she returned her lips to his parted waiting ones, his beyond fervent reciprocation all she needed to know he felt exactly the same.

* * *

Whelp, that's all! See, this was a small thing despite the length, right? Hope everyone enjoyed! Wish them lots of luck, because even though I didn't go into it, they have a steamy New Year's celebration **;)**

**Don't forget!**

I _ALWAYS_ have the statuses and information about any updates and/or progress of this fic, or any of my stories on my profile in the 'Main' section. **^-^**

_**~itsu**_


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